Deputy Premier Ben Carroll says it’s high time for Melbourne’s Airport Rail link

Ben Carroll says the time for Melbourne’s Airport Rail link “was yesterday” while calling on the airport to drop unrealistic demands and come to the table to get it done.

Deputy Premier Ben Carroll has emphatically backed the $10bn rail link to Tullamarine while taking a swipe at the airport for making unrealistic demands while raking in millions from its car parks.

After months of debate about the future of the rail link, Mr Carroll said there was $5bn on the table from both the state and the Commonwealth and it was time to finish the job they had started.

“The time for the Airport Rail link was yesterday,” he said.

“We don’t need any more obfuscation, we need to get on and deliver this project.”

Deputy Premier Ben Carroll says it’s time to deliver an airport rail link to Melbourne. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Carroll dismissed the airport’s push for an underground station and it’s proposal for tunnel boring machines to be shifted from other major projects, pointing out that it was not possible to repurpose machines specifically build for the West Gate Tunnel or Metro Tunnel.

Mr Carroll dismissed the airport’s push for an underground station. Picture: Melbourne Airport

He said the airport should come to the table to get a deal done, pointing out that its recent results showed “revenue is up 100 per cent at a billion dollars” and that even taxi drivers had told him there was a need for the extra “release valve” for traffic.

He also said it was a bit rich for the airport to be so dismissive of current plans for an elevated station when it was not funding any aspect of the link that would benefit travellers and it’s workforce.

Ben Carroll says Melbourne Airport has some of the most expensive car parking in the country but has not put any money on the table for a rail link.

“Melbourne Airport, a monopoly, has some of the most expensive car parking in the nation, have not put any money on the table,” he said.

Mr Carroll, the member for Niddrie which includes suburbs that would directly benefit from the link, said the rail line would fill a 100-year access gap on public transport for local residents and airport workers, and “electrify the northwest”.

He said residents in that area would bear the brunt of the impact of a planned third runway at the airport.

“We need to do this for the northwest community that feel all the benefits of the planes flying over their heads, and we need to do this because anyone that’s used the car parking there knows how much it hurts within the hip pocket,” he said.

“And anyone who’s had to use the taxi service, while they’re doing a good job, knows as the taxi industry have said to me, you need another release valve.”